On Saturday evening I returned home from work to my husband & our 5 yr old daughter sitting on the couch, my husband was reading her a story which isn't uncommon. I looked and there were 7- 8 more books spread out beside them, I thought "Wow, they've been on a reading frenzy tonight"  My daughter was so into the book that she said "hi mommy" without a single glance towards me, but as soon as that story was over she came to me with such excitement..."Mommy, Mommy, look what Daddy saved for me & now he thinks I'm big enough to take care of them." My husband had saved a bunch of books from his childhood.. the old school, thick, hard covered books from the 70's, still in very good condition. He had stored them away & when he became a father he knew one day he would give them to our daughter. Now that she's learning how to read, and is out of the coloring in the books stage she has her own set of "big girl" books that she will love & learn from for many years to come, and they are even more special because they are from Dad.

I cannot believe my baby girl is starting kindergarten one week from today...Things to do: purchase school supplies (quite a long list for a kindergartener) & fall clothes, take her in for a haircut, go to "meet the teacher" night tomorrow & get her on a new bedtime routine. 

  We have had a wonderful summer filled with lots of camping, boating, cook-outs & fun events, and we still have to find time to make it to the fair to top it all off.

It's an exciting time for us, and everything will fall into place.......

 Father's Day is this weekend, I think I'm going to get my hubby a new grill tool set, we grill all the time: winter, spring, summer, fall & I noticed last night that his grillin' tools look pretty beat up, does anybody have any advise on a good brand to get?

My Dad told me last week "Chelle, Father's Day is next week, don't get me anything, I don't need anything & you've got better things to spend your money on" , so of course I will respect his wishes kind of, but he'll still get a little hand made card from our sweet girl(his only grandchild) & I can always buy a cheap frame & put her little dance picture in it, for his work desk, and maybe go over and make him a nice meal, my hubby can bring over his new grillin' tools & we'll grill some steak.....He's my only Dad & a wonderful, kind one at that, so we've got to pamper him a little bit, don't you think so?

If you are stuck at your cubicle in a dull office with no windows, today is the day to have a sudden migraine, horrible stomach ache, or "that time of the month" situation so you can get the heck out and enjoy this BEAUTIFUL day! It's Friday, it's sunny and it's going to be 80 degrees!!!

Get know now, while you can!! Or at least grab lunch outside and then ditch work early.

Happy Weekend!!!!! 

It's been a difficult month, but we are trying to keep on keepin' on.

My Mother-in-law passed away on April 11th. Bless her soul, if there are any saints left on this planet, she was one of them. She was 76 yrs old, married to the love of her life for 55 years, they raised 8 children, and have 18 grandchildren, and 6 great grandchildren.

 Anne had a pulmonary disease for 4 years, and it didn't get bad until about 4 months ago, and at the end it took her life very quickly. She wanted to stay at home until the end, and with the help of her family her wish was granted. My husband is the baby of the family and has an incredible Dad and 7 siblings, the only brother that lives out of state flew in to be there and we were all there with her when her life ended....quite a spiritual experience which most of us had never been through before.

 I feel blessed to have had such a wonderful woman as her in my life, I thanked her for raising such a wonderful son, that I now have as a husband. This is a very hard time for my honey, he was very close to his mom, so I know there are going to be a lot of sad, angry, pissed off days ahead of us.. all that I can do is be there, to listen, let him cry or scream or give him a pillow to punch. Our 4 yr old is handling the loss very well, my Grandpa just passed in Jan, so she had experienced his funeral and talks about Heaven many times before..she asked alot of questions which is good, she's curious, so I think that's a healthy way of dealing at such a young age.

 Be thankful for the people in your lives, you just never know what's in the plan. Keep hugging, and kissing and saying "I Love You".